SAND CITY — Two incumbents and two challengers are competing for two spots on the City Council in Sand City on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The election follows the appointment of Gregory Hawthorne and Kristen McDaniel to the City Council in June 2017 to fill the openings left by Todd Kruper and David Pendergrass, both of whom resigned following plans to move out of the region. McDaniel resigned earlier this month.

Mayor Mary Ann Carbone, who was appointed to the position from her spot as vice mayor last year, is running unopposed. Vice Mayor Jerry Blackwelder, who took over that position from Carbone in May 2017 when she was appointed mayor, and Councilman Craig Hubler share the ballot with real estate agent Nicol Casas and a retired fire chief named Elizabeth Ann Sofer.

Blackwelder and Hubler ran unopposed in the past two elections.

Sofer, 66, founded the Ormsby Volunteer Fire Brigade in the Santa Cruz Mountains and served as the brigade’s chief from 2000-2006. She previously worked at the San Mateo County Assessor’s Office. Sofer is the owner of Corner Gallery in Sand City and she is also an artist. She’s lived in Sand City for 14 years and currently serves on the city’s Design Review Committee.

Hubler is also an artist and serves as the chair of the Sand City Art Committee.

Casas, 35, is co-owner of Wayland Properties, a real estate and property management company. He also works for Saratoga Capital as the manager of the Independent Apartments in Sand City.

“I don’t have any previous public service in my background,” he said via email. “I just see a lack of imagination and foresight in the current government.”

Blackwelder, 68, is a retired carpenter and currently serves as a director on the Monterey Regional Waste Management District board and sits on the Seaside County Sanitation District board. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining the construction trade as a union carpenter.

In addition to his role as vice mayor, Blackwelder serves on personnel, public safety, budget, public works and various other Sand City committees.

When asked what issue is the most important one Sand City faces, Sofer said it’s more important for the City Council to listen to the public and what they view as the most important issue.

“The most important things I heard (while talking to Sand City residents) were affordable housing, infrastructure, affordable leases (for small businesses) and water,” she said. “Those seem to be the things that Sand City is very concerned about. Affordable housing seems to be No. 1 because people want to be able to live here.”

Hubler did not respond to The Herald’s request for comment before deadline. In his paid candidate statement, Hubler called Sand City a “vibrant community.”

“As we move forward in new development and growth I look forward to continuing to serve your best needs as someone who has chosen to call our small haven home,” he wrote.

Casas said housing would be his simple, generic answer to the question of what issue is the most important one the city faces. He said Sand City’s issues run much deeper, calling the city a “reverse commuter town” with no real plan for its future.

“People come here in the mornings, drop their personal vehicles and head out to job sites in work trucks,” he said. “I would like to gradually change that situation. I would like to begin to bring jobs to Sand City that encourage a permanent workforce. By doing this we can build a local economy.”

Blackwelder spoke at length about multiple issues facing Sand City. He first pointed to the changes in leadership in the city, particularly Pendergrass leaving after 39 years as mayor, as an important issue.

“He’s the one that pushed forward with utilizing the (redevelopment agency) to eliminate a lot of the blight areas we had throughout Sand City and it started with the shopping centers, creating a revenue base,” Blackwelder said. “Along with doing that, he developed a (memorandum of understanding) with the state and local parks and we gave up 80 percent of our coastal area so we could develop a couple hotels on that other 20 percent.”

According to Carbone, the City Council has until Dec. 19 to appoint a new member to replace McDaniel. Carbone has the power to appoint a new member to the council if the City Council cannot reach an agreement.

“During the (Oct. 16) Council meeting Councilmember Hawthorne suggested that following the election and its results that the mayor can either suggest an elector to the council or decide on a possible appointment that can be brought to the council for discussion,” Carbone said in an email.